Keyholder



J. I EvlNE 3,456,464

KEYHOLDER 4, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F I G. I F I G 3 l? le F I G .2

, Juuus Ll-:vlNE HY X FIC-3.4

ATT( INE July 22, 1969 Filed Deo.

July 22, 1969 J. L EvlNE 3,456,464

KEYHOLDER Filed Dec. 4, 1967 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 FIC-3.8

l INVMN'IOR. JULIUS LEVINE I) 'I'TORNICY United States Patent 3,456,464KEYHOLDER Julius Levine, 2101 Westbury Court, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11225 FiledDec. 4, 1967, Ser. No. 687,884 Int. Cl. A45c 11/32; A44b 15/00; A47b29/10 U.S. Cl. 70-456 5 Claims ABSTRACT 0F DISCLOSURE Holder for keysconsisting of a case open at one side, with one or more plates freelyslidable into and out of said case, but releasably confined againstseparation from the case and provided on one or both sides with springkey holding clips and with a ange or flanges along the outer edge oredges for closing the open side of the case.

The general objects of this invention are to provide a light, small,compact form of key holder of a size to be carried in the pocket orpocketbook and in which a number of keys may be securely held in fullyobservable, readily removable relation.

The drawing accompanying and forming part of this specificationillustrates present practical embodiments of the invention.

Structure, however, may be modified and changed as regards the immediateillustration; all Within the true intent and scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of one of the new keyholders, with a slideon which keys are mounted, withdrawn from the case, for extraction ofkeys retained thereon.

FIG. 2 is an edge view of the case in closed condition.

FIG. 3 is an edge view, half shown in vertical section as on line 3-3 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan of one of the key holding slides removed from the case.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional detail as on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing one of the key carrying plates partlyremoved from the case.

FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective and plan views of a modied form of theinvention.

The case, indicated generally at 7, may be of light, thin material, suchas sheet metal or plastic, of rectangular formation, open along one sideat 8 and in this case having an intermediate partition wall 9 providingseparate key chambers 10 and 11.

The key carrying plates are numbered 12 and 13, disposed in compartments10 and 11, at opposite sides of the separating partition 9.

These plates may be duplicates having anges 14 on their outer edges,meeting at the center to form a complete closure for the open side ofthe case.

The inner edges of the keyplates carry guide strips 15, FIG. 4, of alength to slidingly fit in the case and having angled ends 16 acting ashooks to engage stop pins 17 in the outer edge portions of the case.

Upon angling the key plate in respect to the case, the hooked ends ofthe plate may be disengaged from the holding pins 17, as will be clearin FIG. 6.

The keys are releasably retained on the supporting plates in keyholdingpockets made up of overlying strips 18 in spaced parallel relation onthe plates having inclined abrupt holding edges 19 for guiding the edgesof the keys and light strip springs 20 for gripping the opposite edgesof the keys.

These spring holders firmly secure the keys on the mounting plates butpermit the keys to be readily separated from the plates.

F. lCe

It will be noted that the supporting plates 12 are of a width less thanthe overall length of the keys leaving the heads 21 of the keys fullyexposed to :be readily gripped between opposed fingers of a hand.

vAs shown in FIG. 1, the holder is ordinarily used by simply withdrawingthe slide carrying the desired key; the hooked ends of the Iguide 15then retaining the slide in position for easy removal of the desiredkey.

If, however, the key carrying member is to be entirely removed from thecase, this can be easily effected by simply turning the slide at anangle to thecase, as in FIG. 6, to separate iirst one and then the otherof the end hooks from the stop pins 17.

All parts of the holder may be of small size and of light sheet materialso that the holder may be of light weight convenient for carrying anduse.

Each slide is shown as carrying two keys on opposite sides of the same,but more or a less number of keys may be mounted on the slides. Thefrictional engagement of the slides in the case may ordinarily besufficient to keep the slides properly confined in the case, but specialmeans such as tab extensions 22 on the flanges 14 may be provided foryielding holding engagement with the confining Walls of the case.

The springs 2 0 hold the keys against rattling or looseness on thesupporting plates.

These may be of light strip spring material wrapped about a portion ofthe pocket forming strip 18 at one end at 23 and extending from thesupported end into the key receiving space of the pocket.

The bars 15 at the inner edges of the plates act as guides in freesliding engagement in the case and serve as retainers to preventseparation of the plates from the case, unless such separation may beintended, as for the removal or replacement of individual keys.

The holder keeps a group of keys such as ordinarily required, in orderlyeasily recognized relation, fully covered and protected but instantlyavailable, and readily removable and replaceable.

The cover forming flanges 14 provide convenient finger grips for slidingthe key supports into and out of the case and for manipulating into theinclined positions necessary to remove the supports from the case.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show how the invention may be made up with a single slide23, carrying integrally cut out key holding strips 24.,

The means for retaining the slide in the case is shown as a rod or bar25 on the inner edge of the slide plate having its ends bent into hookforming loops 26, engageable around pins 27, in back of the case to holdthe slide in retracted position.

These hooks 26 also are engageable about the pins 28 in the front of thecase to limit the extracting movement of the slide and preventaccidental removal of the slide.

Intentional removal of the slide may be effected by rocking the sameinto an angular relation, as previously described and shown in FIG. 6.

The guide bar 25 at the inner edge of the slide plate may be relativelyrigid, but with the hook members 26 extended at opposite ends of the barresilient to snap about the holding pins 27. This bar with the hookedends may be a single piece of spring material, substantially asindicated, with the hook parts resilient to snap into and out ofengagement with pins 27 and 28 and the intermediate portion below thehooks substantially rigid to assure proper spring hinging action of thehooks.

What is claimed is:

1. A keyholder comprising a case open along one side and provided withstop pins at opposite ends of said open side,

a key carrying plate insertable into and removable through said openside of the case,

A a guide vrod at the inner edge'of said'plateof a length" 2. Theinvention according to claim 1 with two of said key holding platesdisposed in back-to-back relation in said case with opposed flangesforming a closure for the open side of the case. 3. The inventionaccording to claim 1 with springs in said key holding pockets disposedfor yielding holding engagement with the edges of the keys inserted insaid pockets.

4. A keyholder comprising a case, a supporting plate slidable into andout of said case, said plate having a Width less than the length of anormal key so as to leave the head of a key on the plate exposed at bothsides for gripping between the fingers, Y

a key pocket forming strip spaced the approximate 3,456,464 t j t "'aguide Vbai' at'"th`e 'inner edge ofV the plate slidingly cooperable withinner walls of the case,

said guide bar having hooked ends and the case having stops engageableby said hooked ends to prevent accidental separation of the plate fromthe case, but permitting removal of the plate when inclined in respectto the case.

5. A keyholder comprising a case,

a supporting plate slidable into and out of said case,

a key pocket forming strip struck out of said plate and spaced theapproximate thickness of a key over said plate,

the 4guide bar at the inner edge of said plate having hooked endsslidably engage'able with the inner walls of Ithe case, and

abutment forming pins in the case engageable `by said hooked ends ofsaid bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS MARVIN A. CHAMPION, PrimaryExaminer ROBERT L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner

